IAEA says Iran slashed highly enriched uranium stockpiles by 81%

Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Iran’s eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons

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VIENNA, May 24 /ITAR-TASS/. Iran is fulfilling its commitments under last year’s agreement with the six negotiators on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a quarterly report distributed among the nuclear watchdog’s member countries on Friday.

The IAEA’s report said that since the start of the deal’s implementation by Iran in January 2014, the country has not produced enriched uranium higher than 5%, and its reserves of highly enriched uranium have dropped 81% to 39 kilograms from 209 kilograms as a result of dilution and conversion.

Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Iran’s eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.

The six international negotiators on Iran’s program - five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States) plus Germany - agreed at a meeting in Geneva on November 24, 2013 not to introduce new sanctions against Iran on the part of the United Nations, the European Union and the US. They also agreed to lift certain restrictions for Iran in some fields.

The deal, under which Iran agreed to stop enrichment of uranium to higher than 5%, entered into force January 20, 2014.